NZ wildfoods take festival-goers back to nature
16 Mar 2010
‘Getting back to nature’ took on new meaning when thousands of locals and visitors turned out in droves for the iconic Hokitika Wildfoods Festival - New Zealand’s wildest foodie event - on Saturday (13.03.10).
Listed among the ‘world’s unmissable festivals’ by US travel guide Frommers, the wild foods festival - in the South Island’s West Coast region - is a unique celebration inspired by some of the more weird and wacky ingredients provided by New Zealand’s bountiful landscape.
At the 21st festival, 13,500 wild foodies feasted from 80 stands on local delicacies ranging from ‘westcargots’ - snails in garlic butter - to a dose of natural viagra in the form of mountain oysters or sheep testicles, huhu grubs, punga fern pickles, and wasp-larvae ice-cream.
Huhu grubs, the larvae of a forest beetle endemic to New Zealand, are a traditional Maori delicacy. The grubs provided a high fat instant snack that was eaten fresh from their fallen bush log homes, and Maori had different names for the grub depending on its stage of life.
Local delicacies
Festival-goers also consumed more than 10,000 whitebait patties - a favourite local delicacy that’s fished from the Hokitika river mouth, on the town’s southern boundary - washed down with gallons of local Monteith's beer.
On the side, there was also a free sampling of non-protected pukeko kebabs - a rare treat described as tasting like a cross between wild pork and venison, and made available through a local cull.
Udderly Divine Desserts won the best-stall prize - the second successive win for the Kaniere Play Centre mothers group, who sold pikelets made with bovine colostrum - milk produced by a cow after the birth of a calf - and colostrum shooters.
Best new-food prize went to Shayne Wratt for his Glass-Eyed Creek Sauce - a smoky, tomato barbecue sauce that carried the slogan "Tried and tested on cooked animals".
West Coast economy
Organiser Mike Keenan said the event generated about NZ$2 million for the West Coast economy.
"The West Coast turned on a glorious weekend for the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival and I was delighted with the positive way everyone entered into the spirit of the festival and really enjoyed themselves," Keenan said.
The recognition from international travel company Frommers was testament to the event's recognition, he said.
Background: Hokitika Wildfoods Festival
The 2010 Hokitika Wildfoods Festival marked the event’s 21st birthday.
The wildfoods festival was started by local woman Claire Bryant to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the town of Hokitika, in 1990.
As well as tasty New Zealand bush tucker, there is also entertainment in the form of music, dancing, mime and comedy throughout the day.
In 1996, the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival was awarded New Zealand's 'most unique event' title, and has twice been a winner in the New Zealand Tourism Awards.
And the festival recently made it onto a list of the world's top 300 'unmissable festivals' by US travel publisher Frommers.
Background: Hokitika
Hokitika is home to some of New Zealand's best pounamu craftsmen. Pounamu or New Zealand jade - known locally as greenstone - is found in the rivers and mountains of the southern west coast.
Hokitika was originally a gold town, settled in the 1860's during the South Island gold rush, and an important port.
Hokitika, population 4500, sits between a river mouth and a rugged West Coast beach, in the South Island of New Zealand. The little town has breathtaking views of the Southern Alps.
More information:
Kai - indigenous Maori foods
New Zealand's culinary culture
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
